Human Reproduction vol.2 no.5 pp.435-438, 1987 Non-invasive methods for assessing embryos

Non-invasive methods offer considerable potential in assess-ing the viability of human embryos conceived by IVF. Their use in diagnosing genetic defects appears to be more limited at the present time, but it would be premature to rule out this possibility. Key words: embryos/non-invasive methods/IVF/genetic defects Non-invasive methods rely on measurements of compounds in the culture medium in which embryos are incubated. Examples include the uptake of nutrients, the formation of metabolic pro-ducts, the release of enzymes and hormones, and the formation of immunological, early pregnancy or platelet-activating factors. Such methods are, by necessity, concerned with the phenotypic expression of the embryo's genetic material, and at present, would seem to have less potential for pre-implantation diagnosis than methods which analyse the genome itself. However, there ar